John Barresi

Ok, new OS is successfully installing - headed to dinner soon, look for a winner before midnight at the latest. 🙏🏻

Terribly sorry guys, I usually do this process from my iMac at the family apartment but I’m about 4 hours south of there and when I went to open the necessary spreadsheet file it wouldn’t open due to an out of date operating system... Naturally, the update failed. I’m now on the phone with Apple working to get a good update done, then I’ll be completing the drawing... Could be 30 minutes, could be 3-4 hours, have to see how the install goes. Thanks for your patience! 🙏🏻

Running RV errands atm, will be on the computer preparing the drawing within an hour or two tops. ✌️

Hi all, not like you’re surprised by now but I’m a little late... Been up to my eyeballs with @khsidekick working on the RV that I picked up this past Saturday, it sprouted leaks in Oregon’s rainy season and I’ve driven down to his place do some urgent repairs. I’m totally wiped out at the moment but planning to reconcile the subscriber list and draw a winner tomorrow over my morning coffee - thanks as always for your patience!

It’s the #Djinnebago, of course. Going for license plate KYT 4GE.

Picking up this little treasure tomorrow morning. 1990 Winnebago Itasca Micro Spirit... Roughly 97K Just 2 owners before me All major service receipts since 1990 Rebuilt engine, tranny and starter Clean CARFAX She’s nearly 30 years old, I’m already anticipating some work ahead although she has all the telltale signs and records of having been cared for quite well... Looking forward to a crash course over the next week, regardless. 👍🏻 First priorities are to replace the propane tank and get a generator / solar combo to tend the RV battery, also have to have a kite cabinet / case built for where the “activity cabinet” sits in that diagram (currently empty floor space). Already tapped into (and visited / confirmed) an excellent Boondocking site on an old couple’s homestead about 30 minutes south of Portland, as well as securing RV storage to swap my car and RV in and out of as needed depending on what I’m doing (traveling or not). ✌️

Stability isn’t really key, main thing is having a truly straight leading edge and getting a ballenced (matched) pull on both top lines so it doesn’t buck to one side. Clean process, rhythm, repeat.

Even speed up (normal flight), just powered up, not accelerating or trying to surge. The pause creates more time for bobble, kite is truer tracking when it’s driving, slack off and it will rotate.

Yeah, just fly to the point (doing your best to arrive and transition with a straight leading edge), and pull - the rest is “hunt and peck”, go right for the mark, it’ll only feel rough the first few times.

Nice one @Jhsidekick!

Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat. Cut down on the “hunt and peck”, go to it - do it, pause, toss, reorient, repeat, over and over at a steady rhythm - I guarantee your 100th attempt will be better than you 10th, so the gambit is to get there quick. There is also this... https://kitelife.com/forum/files/file/631-rev-tutorial-3d-flying/

The magic to keeping your lines tidy during catch and throw is the “U”... Having passed both handles to one hand for the pull, I sometimes flick that hand (and handles) deep out to the side as the kite is halfway down to me, this puts each end of the lines 4-6 ft apart, shaped like a “U” on the ground. No overlap, no tangles. The only situation where the U may not free you, is debris or brush on the ground that may snag lines, a twig, random feather or even a HUMAN HAIR (true story) happens to get between two lines at the wrong spot... But this is rare, if you pick your spot for catching - respect the U. There are also situations that may call for a harpoon layout on a throw... Continuing “S” pattern, like on the deck of a boat, between tether and spear, idea again is to eliminate overlap or lines rolling across the ground. Which adds the other golden rule of line management on catch and throws... Try to avoid haphazardly dragging your lines, preserve the U if you must drag them, holding both kite and handles high to lessen the angle of drag.

The Pro Dancer SUL is one of my secret weapons for 0-2, 50#, 50’ or so... So easy to generate pressure with a drop of the hands, super stable with the flat sail, it likes small inputs (less wind dump) and will drop a vertical tip stab from a full 10’-12’ off the deck if you hit it right (called a black hole). One of my faves. ❤️

Hi all, I’m not actively broadcasting this across the community but the core group of folks here make KiteLife what it is and have been so kind to our projects over the years so I wanted to share some personal news, hopefully providing a little insight into my absence from many active discussions here. After a little over nine years, my wife and I are separating - still a lot of love, but we’ve struggled for a long time now and our two characters together just aren’t working for either of us... With this in mind, I’ve been spread fairly thin emotionally while we’ve been working our way through what’s next. I won’t air laundry here except to say there are no villains involved, we just need to evolve our situation and I can’t quite swing the long term expense of two separate residences (theirs and mine) so I am currently working to find an small affordable RV for myself like the Itasca Spirit, which actually fits into my long term goals of being able to do kite tours on and off through the year, as well as being able to stay in Portland and maintain sufficient time with my son - I’m close to having what I need to make all this happen, but I may be putting some old kite treasures up for raffle or sale over the next few weeks to cover the difference so keep an eye out for that! ✌️ Life ebbs, flows and continues, my son is still well cared for by us both, so we move forward with our heads held as high as possible while we find our way. Please, consider all this with the kindness it deserves and try not to contribute to gossip - all that needs to be known by anyone outside my family is said here. ❤️ Thank you all for your patience and understanding of my varying output / input while life is under construction, but everything else should be business as usual and as always, this is your home too. 🙏🏻

Be advised - some folks have done it but sometimes Rev rods are too snug (they are hand wrapped and vary in diameter), welcome to try but I cannot guarantee the fit. 🙏🏻

Cheeky bugger... Translated:

You’re more than welcome to come play @DTill, lots of discussion and info here already... https://www.facebook.com/events/2063175117276024/ Hope to see you there. PS, I’m locking this thread since he kite was sold, feel free to jump in on another WSIKF topic elsewhere... https://kitelife.com/forum/topic/8760-2019-wsikf-quad-mega-fly-record/

We solved the bridle installation direction issues with the Djinn end caps and bridle, using dedicated bridle holes that point the right way already and don’t conflict with the bunji direction. 👍🏻

😂🤣

You guys are something else. ❤️😂

Hmmmm, maybe nobody wants it? I have a 3 pack of Trlbys I could swap in instead... 😇

There is a little well-intended confusion on the Djinn outer trailing edge angles... Primary purpose is to smooth out reverse (this works in confunction with the bridle). What causes the wing to flip during reverse flight is wind getting past the trailing edge and on the back of the sail... Having filmed multiple slow motions tests, we found it starts with a small ripple in the outer trailing edge. Breaking it down, the center trailing edge curves away from the pilot, therefore it’s further away from the “tipping point” than the sail outside the verticals, which doesn’t curve out very much, naturally keeping the outer trailing edge closer to the pilot, and the tipping point for bow tie. The wind pass-through when resting on a 45 is an added bonus, but was not part of the original purpose.

https://www.kite-and-friends.de/international/groundstake-kiting-with-john-barresi/

Welcome! 👍🏻